Choice For Colleges: Pay Athletes, or Give Them a Solid Education
When it comes to inequities concerning race and college sports, you can talk about changing rules, paying players for their work or otherwise distributing the earnings of athletic departments.
But in the end, the most important thing institutions can do to reform the intercollegiate sports system is provide its players – even the at-risk ones – with a useful education.
That’s according to some of the nation’s top experts on race and college sports. They convened at Wake Forest University’s “Losing to Win: Discussions of Race and Intercollegiate Sports” to lay out the problems in what they call the exploitative system of college athletics and to offer solutions.
“We need to follow the money. The money is going to be the best way to decipher when something is not being done correctly,” said Kenneth Shropshire, lawyer and professor at the Wharton School. “People of color and women are not at the end of the money trail. … We are not getting paid.” Read more
Top 10 Finalists for ARA National Sportsmanship Award announced
2009 List Includes Collegiate Football Standouts On and Off Field
With awards season officially underway, the Awards and Recognition Association (ARA) announces the top 10 finalists for its fifth annual Sportsmanship Award, which is given to one outstanding NCAA Division 1 collegiate football player who best personifies the spirit of sportsmanship.
The 2009 Sportsmanship Award recipient will be chosen from one of these 10 finalists and announced this December.
Previous winners are Northwestern University receiver Eric Peterman (2008); Washington State quarterback Alex Brink (2007); Cincinnati Bengels fullback Brian Leonard (2006); and Carolina Panthers running back, DeAngelo Williams (2005).
“As the only national award that recognizes an athlete’s character and leadership as it translates to sportsmanship, the ARA Sportsmanship Award was created five years ago to shed light on these positive traits,” said Glenn Beckworth, president of the ARA.
ARA Sportsmanship Award
To qualify for the award, an athlete must be a starting player or significant contributor on his team; be an athlete in good academic standing; demonstrate great respect for competitors, school, teammates and coaches; show an ability to accept victory and defeat graciously; convey a high degree of humility and integrity; and demonstrate commitment in the classroom and to the community.
Former Brigham Young University Head Football Coach LaVell Edwards chairs the selection committee. “We’re uncovering some of the finest players the sport has to offer. These young men have a common thread of a positive attitude, strong work ethic and sense of fair play that is translated to their conduct on and off the playing field,” notes Edwards.
The finalists were selected in a blind process.
The 2009 award recipient will be announced in December. The finalists, in alphabetical order, are:
1. Mike Anello–University of Notre Dame.
2. Andrew Brewer–Northwestern University.
3. Russel Fisher–Saint Francis University.
4. Tim Hiller–Western Michigan University.
5. Jammie Kirlew–Indiana University.
6. Jeron Mastrud–Kansas State University.
7. Matt Reagan–University of Memphis.
8. Adam Rundh–Valparaiso University.
9. Phillip Tanner–Middle Tennessee State University.
10. Reed Williams–West Virginia University.
Source: www.arasportsmanshipaward.com
Top sports sites for September 2009
NFL Rules the Web, College Students More Interested in Sports Teams than Education Sites
Compete released its ranking of top football, college sports and fantasy sports sites for September 2009, which is based on data from the company’s integrated online panel of two million U.S.-based internet users. Football Web sites reached more than 16 million unique visitors (UVs) in September 2009, which is a 25.9 percent increase over August 2009. Another high-growth category, college sports sites drew 10.5 million UVs in September 2009, a 74.6 percent month-over-month growth. The category has grown 74 percent since 2008.
“It’s clear that sports fans are loyal to their teams online and off. Advertisers who spend millions of dollars to stay top of mind with sports fans can target leading team sites during the season and follow fans to adjacent sports-related Web sites such as fantasy football,” said Cynthia Stephens, director of marketing at Compete.
In conjunction with the beginning of football season, fantasy sports site fantasysports.yahoo.com attracted 6.8 million unique visitors in September 2009, which is ten percent more than the same month last year. Games.espn.go.com (5.2 million UVs) and football.cbssports.com (2.6 million UVs) also gained traction with fantasy sports fans during September. For further analysis of Web traffic to fantasy sports sites, please read, “Fantasy Sports Potpourri… Part 1.”
NFL Rules the Web
Compared to last year’s season, online football traffic is up 15.4 percent. The Dallas Cowboys (1.3 million UVs), Pittsburgh Steelers (933,990 UVs) and New England Patriots (843,864 UVs) lead the league in online traffic. Several sites (including amazon.com, fansedge.com, stubhub.com and footballfanatics.com) are also capitalizing on the Dallas Cowboys’ popularity with one third to two thirds of their search referral share generated by paid clickthroughs from the search term “Dallas Cowboys.”
For more on how football season impacts online marketing spend, read Compete’s August blog post, “August Data is Live: Summer’s Out & Football Season Is In.”
College Students Flock to Sports Sites
The NCAA’s ncaa.com (580,077 UVs) and ncaa.org (434,034 UVs) attracted the most visitors in the college sports category in September 2009. Even with the beginning of a new semester, popular sports team sites from the University of Florida (gatorzone.com, 407,704 UVs) and University of Michigan (mgoblue.com, 395,193 UVs) attracted more visitors than their University home pages. UFL.edu saw 177,710 UVs in September 2009 and UMich.edu counted 338,773 visitors.
Each month, Compete takes a look at the top movers within one of its 225 industry categories. Month-over-month traffic gains for individual Web sites can be a direct result of seasonality and specific marketing or advertising campaigns. In this way, the top-ranked sites become much more than a list, they are an effective way to assess which competitors’ strategies are working and why.
Source: Compete
Rate of skin infections in high school and college athletes continues to grow
Athletic Trainers are Key to Prevention
A recent survey of nearly 650 athletic trainers across the U.S. revealed that in the past 12 months nearly 76 percent of the respondents’ athletic programs, mostly high school- and college-based, bacterial or viral skin infections have developed. This is up from 73 percent in 2008 and 67 percent in 2007.(1) (2) The good news – infection rates of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a type of staph infection that is resistant to many common antibiotics, stabilized at 49 percent, the same as reported in 2008. (2)
The survey, conducted every year since 2006 at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) annual meeting, also showed a significant increase in athletic trainers’ roles in educating key groups including athletes (87 percent, up from 80 percent in 2008), coaches (80 percent, up from 62 percent in 2008) and athletes’ families (40 percent, up from 30 percent in 2008). This is important since these groups are often the “first responders” when it comes to early identification and treatment of a skin infection such as MRSA or sports-related injury.
“While we would like to see the estimated number of skin infections decrease, we are encouraged by the role athletic trainers increasingly play in educating and supporting athletes, coaches and families,” said Marjorie J. Albohm, MS, ATC, president of NATA. “MRSA continues to be an issue our members face on and off the field, but so are heat exhaustion, H1N1 and head concussions. Athletic Trainers deal with everything from cuts and sprains to potentially life threatening injuries on a daily basis.”
MRSA is usually spread from person-to-person through direct skin contact or contact with shared items or surfaces such as towels, used bandages, hot and cold tubs, or weight-training equipment that have come in contact with the bacteria. MRSA infections in the community are usually manifested as skin infections, such as pimples and boils that are red, swollen and painful. MRSA can be life threatening when it enters the body through scrapes and scratches, potentially leading to blood and joint infections, and pneumonia. As the number of cases of MRSA has increased in the community, so have contact sports-related infections. (cite)
To help prevent transmission of infections and illnesses such as MRSA, H1N1 or seasonal flu, it is often recommended that athletes wash with cleansers that contain 4 percent chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG). CHG bonds to the skin and continues to actively kill germs for up to six hours without leaving a residue. This offers protection between washings and during competition. CHG has been used in hospitals and operating rooms for decades to help prevent the spread of infection.
“Washing with a cleanser that contains CHG can be especially helpful in amateur sports, since many athletes at that level do not shower immediately before or after activities. By washing even just the hands and arms before an activity, the risk of infection can be dramatically reduced,” said Jack Doornbos, executive director, Molnlycke Health Care, the health care company that supported the survey.
In fact, last year the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) noted that “the single most important thing for prevention is hand-washing with soap and water, or if MRSA is known to be present, with chlorhexidene (Hibiclens).(3)” Hibiclens® skin cleanser is one over-the-counter cleanser that contains 4 percent CHG and has been proven to kill germs on contact and bond with the skin to keep killing microorganisms for up to six hours without leaving a residue. The same cleanser with alcohol is available as a wipe called Hibistat® for on-the-go needs. Both are available at drug stores and pharmacies in the first aid section. For more information about CHG or to download free educational materials about MRSA and sports, visit hibiclens.com/athletes.html.
(1) Molnlycke Health Care, NATA survey of Athletic Trainers, June 2007.
(2) Molnlycke Health Care, NATA Survey of Athletic Trainers, June 2008.
(3) www.NFLplayers.com, “An Increasingly Common Bacterial Infection”, November 28, 2008, Dr. Thom Mayer.
Source: Molnlycke Health Care US, LLC